Noise Perception and Its Effects on Tourists' Satisfaction: A Case Study of Nanluoguxiang Lane in Beijing

The influence of soundscape (auditory environment of destinations) on the quality of the tourist experience is favored by recent tourism researches. In China, the rapid development of mass tourism leads to some problems such as overcrowding and too noisy sound environment in many tourism destinations, and then affects tourists' experiences. Therefore, how to assess the sound environment accurately and analyze the relationship between soundscape perception and tourist experience is not only an important foundation for creating and optimizing good soundscape for destinations, but also the key elements of the guidance for the tourism soundscape development practice. Taking the historical and culture street of Nanluoguxiang Lane in Beijing as a study case, this paper aimed to analyze tourist's noise perception and its effects on tourist satisfaction. Based on analysis of soundscape samples and questionnaires collected in Nanluoguxiang Lane, four conclusions were drawn in the paper: (1) Tourists generally agreed that the noise pollution of Nanluoguxiang Lane is serious and has significant impacts on the quality of tourist experience; the extent of tourists' noise perception is closely related to crowdedness of Nanluoguxiang Lane; (2) the sources, volume, temporal duration, and spatial distribution of noise all can affect the experience of tourists, in which spatio-temporal distribution of noisy soundscape is the key factor; (3) The noise perception of tourists is influence by factors such as moods, travel mode and the itinerary they take, which means that the physical properties of noisy sound is not the sole factor affecting tourist experiences; (4) The noise problem of Nanluoguxiang Lane has undergraded tourists' revisit rate and recommendation; therefore, the adjustment and optimization of soundscape in Nanluoguxiang Lane is far more important for the destination to keep its unique attraction for tourists.